Beat the heat with cool food

The moment you think of Andhra food, the phrase ‘hot and spicy’ pops into the mind. Ninety per cent of the dishes are indeed blistering hot. But for all who think it is time to give your system a break from the spices, rehashing your memories about all the non-spicy Andhra food is a good idea. Yes, you heard right. There are hordes of non-spicy Andhra dishes which soothe your system and help you deal with the Hyderabadi heat.

Shilpa Reddy, ex-Mrs World and restauranter, agrees, “It is true. There are plenty of relatively non-spicy dishes in Andhra cuisine. And it is not just the same old curd rice that I am talking about. From drinks, pickles to accompaniments that go along with your rice, there is a list of soothing food that can come in handy while beating the heat.”

Elaborating on the list, Shilpa adds, “No Andhra meal is complete without some yummy pickles. Even in this there are specially designated summer pickles, like pudina chutney, as mint is a coolant. Similarly, the lime pickle, not the one with a lot of masalas and chillies, but the one which is simply marinated, is known to be soothing.”

Talking about dishes to eat with rice, she adds, “We have two dishes, pachi pulusu and majjiga charu, which is a must in every household during the summer. The first becomes a replacement for sambar during the summer. Made with tamarind water, jaggery, along with some sesame powder, the pachi pulusu is not a cooked item. Very similar to pani puri water, it is simply stirred together till completely mixed and then a separate tadka, of freshly chopped onions is added to it. The crunchiness of the onions goes well with a fluid texture of the pulusu.”

The second dish is very similar to the northern dish kadi, though much more watery than it. Just take half-a-litre of curd and blend it in a mixer and keep aside. In a separate vessel, boil veggies like beans, onion, carrots, tomatoes, raddish in very little water, which should not be thrown away. In a pan, then pour oil and fry the tadka made out of jeera, mustard seeds, curry leaves and a few fried chillies. Put a little haldi to the tadka to give the gravy a little colour. Now add curd to the tadka and pour in a cup of water along with one teaspoon of channa ata to increase the thickness of the gravy. Add salt as per taste, all the boiled veggies and mix well.

So when thinking of what to eat this summer, don’t eat those dishes which will heat up your system and take a pick from any of these cool culinary options and remain chilled out.